US Age Verification Bills: How New Legislation Threatens Online Privacy, Anonymity, and VPN Use
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Across the United States, a growing number of legislative proposals aimed at protecting minors online are sparking significant debate. While ostensibly designed to safeguard young people, these age verification bills often introduce sweeping requirements that pose substantial threats to the privacy, anonymity, and security of all internet users. From mandating identity disclosure to undermining essential privacy tools like VPNs, these legislative efforts risk reshaping the digital landscape in ways that could harm civil liberties far beyond their stated intentions.
The Broad Reach of Age Verification Mandates
Many proposed age verification laws cast a far wider net than their proponents suggest, impacting a vast array of online services. For instance, the SCREEN Act, a federal bill, extends beyond traditional adult content sites. It broadly applies to nearly any service hosting even a single piece of sexually explicit content, regardless of whether that content constitutes a significant portion of the site. This means platforms like streaming services or social media sites could be forced to implement age verification if they host any adult material, even if it’s user-generated or a small part of their overall offering [2].
Similarly, state-level initiatives, such as California’s AB 1709, initially aimed at social media, define “addictive features” so broadly that they encompass virtually all functional recommendation algorithms. These definitions apply to any presentation of user-generated content recommended “in whole or in part, on information provided by the user,” including basic inputs like who a user follows or what posts they like. The practical outcome is that young people under 16 could be denied access to major social media services as they currently exist, or forced onto stripped-down, dysfunctional versions [1]. This approach, by limiting access to tools users rely on to find and disseminate speech, effectively burdens their constitutional right to access information and participate in public discourse [1].
Forced Identity and the Creation of Data Honeypots
A central feature of these age verification bills is the requirement for users to prove their age through methods tied to their real identities. The SCREEN Act explicitly states that simply confirming one’s age is not sufficient, necessitating more rigorous verification [2]. This often translates into platforms demanding government-issued IDs or even biometric scanning. California’s AB 1709, for example, will, in practice, force platforms to implement the strictest forms of age verification to avoid liability, requiring users to upload sensitive personal data [1].
This shift from anonymous access to mandatory identity disclosure creates significant privacy and security risks. When users are compelled to upload government IDs or submit to biometric scans, they are effectively creating “massive honeypots of sensitive personal data” that become prime targets for hackers and identity thieves [1]. Unlike showing an ID to a bouncer in the physical world, where the ID is simply viewed and returned, online age verification services often capture and save this personal information to a database for an unspecified duration [2]. Even bills that claim not to mandate age verification, like the CHATBOT Act, still impose obligations that pressure online services to know a user’s age, leading companies to adopt stricter verification methods, including government IDs or facial scans [3]. These methods are inherently problematic, either collecting more information than necessary or having high error rates, particularly across different demographics [1, 3].
The Erosion of Anonymity and Personal Privacy
The consequences of these forced identity requirements extend to the fundamental right to online anonymity and personal privacy for all users, not just minors. When platforms are forced to collect and store vast amounts of personal data to verify age, the anonymity that many adults rely on for legitimate reasons is destroyed [1, 2]. This data, once collected, is often retained by third-party age verification services with “terribly weak protections,” allowing them to use the information for various purposes and retain it for extended periods, exacerbating security and privacy issues [2].
Furthermore, the creation of centralized records of online activity, even for parental monitoring as proposed by some legislation, generates “valuable targets for hackers, identity thieves, civil litigants, and anyone else seeking access to the deeply personal information of others” [3]. This mandated data collection creates new privacy and security risks for entire families, transforming private online interactions into permanent, accessible archives [3]. The government’s push for such invasive monitoring systems fundamentally alters the relationship between individuals and online services, shifting it from one of potential anonymity to mandatory identification, thereby compromising the privacy of millions of internet users [2].
Direct Threats to VPN Use and Online Security
Perhaps one of the most direct assaults on online privacy and security comes from provisions that specifically target Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). The SCREEN Act, for instance, requires covered websites to verify users’ ages based on their IP addresses and explicitly mandates age verification for traffic originating from known VPN addresses [2]. In practice, this effectively discourages the use of VPNs and proxy servers, which are vital tools for privacy and security for millions of people worldwide. VPNs allow users to protect their personal privacy, secure public Wi-Fi connections, safeguard journalists and activists, and prevent data tracking by masking their real location [2].
By treating VPN usage as suspect and forcing users who employ these tools to identify themselves, such legislation undermines a crucial layer of online protection. VPNs are designed to route internet traffic through a different server, preventing websites from seeing a user’s actual IP address. This is a legitimate and widely used privacy mechanism, and legislative attempts to circumvent it force individuals to sacrifice their privacy just to access lawful online content [2]. The implications are far-reaching, potentially exposing individuals to surveillance, data breaches, and the loss of the ability to communicate or access information privately.
Impact on Free Speech and Access to Information
Beyond privacy and anonymity, these age verification bills also raise significant free speech concerns. Denying minors access to digital forums, or providing them with stripped-down versions, is a form of censorship that burdens their constitutional right to access information and participate in public discourse [1]. The idea that a 17-year-old requires parental permission to use an online service, when they can freely access library books, Wikipedia, or news articles, highlights the overreach of applying child-focused laws to older teenagers [3].
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Sources
- [1] Amending AB 1709 Doesn’t Fix It: California’s Social Media Ban Still Threatens Free Speech and Privacy (www.eff.org)
- [2] The SCREEN Act Threatens Privacy Far Beyond Adult Websites (www.eff.org)
- [3] The CHATBOT Act Forces One Parenting Model On Every Family (www.eff.org)
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